Now
houses The Chester Little Theater, Chester, SC - Photo taken in 2002

We
are endebted to Mrs. Malcolm L. Marion, Jr., of Chester, for much of
this information. She conducted extensive research on buildings in Chester.
She related to us the tragedy of the 1929 fire at the local library
in which many issues of The Chester Reporter were destroyed.

In
a diary, kept by Kate Gaston Davidson of Chester, Mrs. Marion found
an entry of interest. On October 7, 1913, Mrs. Davidson wrote, "Bobby
shed some tears over not going to the moving pictures last night. It's
our rule not to go on school nights, but he's heard this was something
'extra.'" So, we can be fairly certain that movies were shown in
Chester before 1913.

Advertisements
for the Dreamland Theatre can be found in surviving
issues of The Chester Reporter from 1915 through 1919 (see
below right). According to Mrs. Marion's research, Hill's Dreamland
Theatre is listed at 103 Wylie Street in the City Directories
1920-1921 and 1924-1925. Roland G. Hill of Greensboro, NC, is listed
as proprietor.

In
the late 1920's or early 1930's, Mr. Joseph Wlaters ran the Dreamland
Theatre. He changed the name from Dreamland Theatre to The City
Theatre. Around 1935, Mr. Fred J. Powell moved to Chester.
He bought The City Theatre. In 1939, Powell built a new movie theatre
at 163 Main Street. He named this the Chester Theatre.
It had an adjoining soda shop.

Mr.
Powell renovated The City Theatre on Wylie Street and called it the
Powell Theatre. For a short time, he also operated
a small theatre at 127 Gadsden Street called the Palmetto Theatre.
The Chester Theatre on Main Street was demolished around 1969.

The Powell Theatre
103 Wylie Street

This was the location
of the
Dreamland Theatre, later named
the City Theatre

An advertisement for the Dreamland Theatre in the
Chester newspaper dated November, 2, 1915.

"An
All-Round Mistake" was a two-reel silent comedy directed by George
Lessey for Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP).

"The
Woman Who Lied" was a drama directed by Lucius Henderson for
the Victor Film Company. It starred William Heidloff and Edna Hunter.